Every time

any little thing goes wrong in the space program, the

same nattering nabobs rise up with the same tired

refrain.

"We

should close down the space program and spend that money

here on earth."

And so it

is with the loss of an unmanned Mars explorer last week.

It's

possible that a legitimate case could be made for

privatizing the space program. After all, the federal

government is involved in something that essentially

boils down to a business enterprise.

There are

always military possibilities, but those scare the

anti-space crowd even more than the idea that we might be

wasting dollars in space that we could waste here on

earth just as easily and a lot more safely.

As a

conservative, I truly don't want to see the federal

government doing something that private companies could

do just as well. But I would argue that the question of

whether we've reached the point where NASA should back

away is still open.

Meanwhile,

there are always the arguments that "we" should

never have gone into space to begin with. I'm never sure,

when I hear that statement, whether the reactionaries are

using "we" to refer to the government, or to

humanity as a whole.

I'll deal

with both concepts.

We,

humanity, should be exploring space for the same reason

that a shipwreck victim tossed on the shores of a

deserted island should make a thorough survey of that

island, its dangers and its resources. This should be his

second priority, after dealing with food and shelter

needs. It's imperative to know what's out there, because

it could be a danger to us, and it could be a help to us.

space, both outer and inner, we've learned that big old

rocks come flying out of outer space and bombard our

living space from time to time. It's extremely rare that

one wipes out all living things, or even kills large

numbers of plants and animals in its immediate

neighborhood, but I would think that the consequences of

failure to prepare in this case would be so great that

even the most complacent ostrich among us would agree

that contingency plans would be in order.

And from

what I've read, we're not going to deal with that

contingency by shooting nuclear missiles at whatever

comes our way. We're going to have to go out there and

deal with it. We may be at the point where we could deal

with it using existing technology, but we most certainly

would not be if it hadn't been for the space program.

And all

those rocks floating around in the asteroid belt may very

well hold the key to our future survival in other ways,

so every day on earth.

Surely the

most rabid environmentalist wouldn't mind if we mined a

few asteroids, or maybe Mars.

Also,

knowledge about our own earth is going to be needed if we

are going to wisely manage its ecology. And although some

of that knowledge can come by looking down, some of it is

going to come by looking up. Studying the moon up close

has given us valuable clues, and all those satellites

hovering overhead have given us a whole new perspective.

As for

benefits to humanity, the advances in communication,

weather forecasting, our knowledge of trends in the

earth's crust - those things alone would have been

enough to justify our presence in space, not to mention

all the technological achievements in everything from

health care to transportation that have come as a direct

result of the research we have to do to get into space.

Sure, some

of those breakthroughs would have come anyway, but the

only way they would come nearly as fast would be if we

were involved in major wars.

Should the

government be involved? I think that point's moot.

Without the government to lead the way, we would never

have advanced to this point. The investment and risks

have been simply too great. Private corporations could no

more have developed the space program than Columbus could

have financed and manned his trip to the sunny Caribbean

without Spain's help.

Is it time

for private enterprise to take over, now that the trail

has been marked?

That's a

question that deserves some attention and discussion

among the nation's leaders. There should definitely be a

well thought-out plan to gradually back the government

out and bring privately financed people of vision into

the process.

For that

matter, it couldn't hurt to put NASA up for sale lock,

stock and barrel, and see if anybody bites.